Mum
by lunylovegoodlover
Summary: When a girl's got a big problem - THE big problem of all time - who can she turn to for help? Why, her mum, of course! James/Lily Harry/Ginny Ron/Hermione Scorpious/Rose Lysander/Lily
1. Lily Evans Potter

"Mum," Lily started, then hesitated.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Evans looked up from the pot she was stirring.

"Do you have a minute?" Lily asked. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Of course," Mrs. Evans said, laying down her spoon. "What is it?"

"Could we go up to my room?" Lily asked tentatively. "It's kind of private, and I don't want Pet – I don't want anyone to hear."

Nodding understandingly, for no one knew better than she what the situation between her daughters was, Mrs. Evans led the way up to Lily's bedroom.

It was a little girl's room, one that represented, as nothing else could, how little of Lily's life was with her family these days. She hadn't changed a thing since she left for Hogwarts six and a half years before. It was a little cluttered now, with a set of robes thrown over the back of a chair and various books scattered throughout the room. Mrs. Evans picked one up, tsking, and said, "You know, dear, it will be so much easier for you to pack if you keep things organized while you're here."

"I'll take care of it after New Year's," Lily said. She settled down on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Evans asked her tenderly, worried by the look in her daughter's eyes.

Lily shook her head. "Oh, nothing." Seeing her mother's doubtful look, she sighed and said, "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, you're going to talk to me about this," Mrs. Evans said. "What's going on?"

"It's the war," Lily said, a note of despair creeping into her voice. "Things keep getting worse, and worse, and I'm…I'm scared, Mum."

"Of course you're scared," Mrs. Evans said, putting an arm around Lily and drawing her close. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again – if you want to come home and just live in the muggle world, you're more than welcome."

"I'm staying, Mum," Lily said. "Do you think I could live like a muggle, knowing about the wizarding world? It would drive me mad! But anyway, I wanted to talk about something else."

"Well?" Mrs. Evans asked when Lily didn't continue. "What is it, dear?"

"I think I'm in love," Lily confessed in a rush.

"In love?" Mrs. Evans gasped, her eyes shining. A true romantic at heart, she couldn't have been more excited if Lily had told her that that horrid war was over. "Oh, my dear, how wonderful!"

Lily scoffed. "Not exactly," she muttered under her breath. A moment later she wished she hadn't said a thing, for all her mother's joy evaporated.

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Evans asked. "Is he seeing someone else?"

"No," Lily said. "No, that's not exactly the problem."

Another possible problem occurred to Mrs. Evans and understanding came into her eyes. "It's that Potter boy, isn't it?" she declared triumphantly.

"What?" Lily jumped guiltily. "What about James?" she asked, doing her best to sound casual.

"He's driving him off, as usual," Mrs. Evans said, then paused. "James," she repeated. "How long has he been James?"

"Since the beginning of the year."

"Dear, I know your relationship with him is…unique, but you want to be careful with a boy like that."

"Things are different this year," Lily said, her eyes begging her mother to understand. "He's Head Boy this year, Mum, and he's changed! He's responsible, and kind, and if he does still prank the Slytherins, it's only when they provoke him now. We agreed at the beginning of the year to try to be friendly acquaintances, just so we could work together, you know, but we became friends. But now, the thing is, I don't know if he still fancies me, because we've just been friends this year, and he hasn't asked me out, or flirted with me, or anything!"

A small crease appeared between Mrs. Evans' eyes as she weighed the pros and cons of Lily being in love with James Potter. As she did so, her mind returned to the only conversation she had had with anyone who truly knew him.

_*Flashback*_

_Mrs. Evans stood by Platforms 9 and 10, staring at her watch. The minute hand reached the twelve, and she sighed. The Hogwarts Express was, for the fifth time in five years, late._

"_Waiting for a school train?" Mrs. Evans turned to see a woman, her luxuriously long black hair shot through with gray, and young girl, also with long dark hair._

"_Yes," she replied._

"_So am I," the woman said. "What school?"_

_Mrs. Evans hesitated. Hogwarts was such a unique name, so…wizardly, that she hated using it in conversations with normal – no, she corrected herself, _muggle_ – people._

"_It's quite a small school," she finally said carefully. "I don't think you would have heard of it."_

"_My son goes to a very small, very select private school as well," the other woman said understandingly. "Perhaps they attend the same one? My son's name is James Potter."_

_Mrs. Evans felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "James Potter," she repeated. "Yes, my daughter has told me about him."_

"_Hopefully _some_ of it was good," Mrs. Potter said. Usually when people say that, it's a joke, but Mrs. Evans heard the true worry in Mrs. Potter's voice. She honestly wanted to know how her son behaved at school._

"_I'm afraid not much of it was," Mrs. Evans confessed. "My daughter's name is Lily Evans, you see."_

"_Ah." Mrs. Potter nodded in understanding. "Yes, James has behaved rather abominably towards her, hasn't he?"_

"_I'm afraid so."_

"_Oh, it's not Lily's fault! The blame is all James'."_

"_He's in love with her," the girl with Mrs. Potter said knowledgably._

"_Oh," Mrs. Potter said. "Mrs. Evans, this is my niece, Harriett."_

"_How do you do?" Mrs. Evans said politely._

"_You're Lily Evans' mum?" Harriett asked._

"_Yes."_

"_What's she like? I've never met her, and Sirius won't let James talk about her too much."_

"_Lily? She's a dear, dear girl. I can introduce you, if you like," Mrs. Evans offered. _

"_Really?" Harriett asked, her eyes wide at the prospect. Then a thought occurred to her and she shook her head. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Evans, but I couldn't. It might mess things up for you and her if she knew you'd been talking to us. She really hates James."_

"_That she does," Mrs. Evans acknowledged. "He's been pretty horrible to her."_

"_I know," Harriett said. "Remus has told me a little."_

"_James is a good boy," Mrs. Potter said. "At home he's…well, not an angel precisely" – Harriett giggled at the thought – "but everything I could want in a son. Kind, smart, creative" –_

"_Annoying," Harriett inserted._

_Mrs. Potter just smiled at her. "But I know at school he's a very different person. I think he truly does love Lily. He's just having some difficulties expressing that."_

"_I've only heard a rather biased view of the matter," Mrs. Evans said. "So I don't know, but if he really is like that, I think he would be perfect for her."_

"_He would be," Harriett said softly. "He really loves her, Mrs. Evans. Real, strong, true love. He's just being a jerk about showing it."_

_Before they could continue talking, the first group of Hogwarts students came through the barrier. Among them were Lily, James, and Severus. Lily made a beeline for her mum, doing her best to avoid the two boys. They both caught her, though, one after the other. She shook them both off, and the expression on her face when she wrapped her arms around her mum was that of Odysseus when he returned to Ithaka. _

_*End Flashback*_

Ever since that day, Mrs. Evans had waited for the good side of James to show itself. Now, it seemed, it had. "Is he dating other girls?" she asked eagerly.

"No," Lily said.

"Has he shown any sign of wanting to?"

"No."

"How close are the two of you?"

"Pretty close…I mean, we see each other a lot, and we all sit together at meals, and all our friends are friends, but he hasn't said a word to me all year about dating, or anything!"

"Calm down, dear," Mrs. Evans said. She was barely able to keep a grin off her face. Really, this was just too perfect for words! "The poor boy is probably scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"Of you."

"Of _me_?"

"Yes, dear. He's most likely terrified of you rejecting him."

"But he never minded before!"

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do! He always just laughed it off!"

"That doesn't mean that he didn't spend lots of nights in his dorm with his friends crying over it, though. If I know anything about teenagers, he's probably spent more time torturing himself with thoughts of you than he spent harassing you."

"I doubt it," Lily said, but doubt had entered her voice.

"I'm sure of it," Mrs. Evans said. "Now what you need to do, the instant you get back to school, find some time when it's just the two of you. I assume you are alone together at times?"

"Yes, of course," Lily said. "But –"

"No buts, dear. Just listen to me. Once you're alone, tell him how you feel. Chances are, he's been going mad this year with love for you."

"But what if he hasn't been? What if he's over me?"

"Then he's over you," Mrs. Evans said unsympathetically. "But I will bet you anything you like that he's still head over heels in love with you." Seeing her daughter's doubtful look, she added, "Listen, dear. You can't spend your whole life wondering what others think of you. You have to take chances. If you don't, you'll regret it forever."

"I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my mother," Lily Potter proclaimed, raising her glass. "Without her, I would probably still be single, and far more unhappy."

"To Mrs. Evans!" everyone echoed.

"You didn't have to do that," Mrs. Evans scolded her daughter later. "I didn't do that much!"

"Yes you did," Lily said. "You did everything. I love you, Mummy."

"And I love you, dear."


	2. Hermione Granger Weasley

**A/N: Okay, this one got a little weird at the end. I'm still not 100% sure I like it. Also, Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Evans are harder for me to write, because we literally have zero information on them, so the mother-daughter conversations will (hopefully) get a little better starting next chapter.**

"Hermione!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger enveloped their daughter in tight hugs. "How was the train ride?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Oh, it was fine," Hermione said. "Nothing special."

"How are Harry and Ron?" Mr. Granger asked as he lifted Hermione's trunk into the car. His back was to his daughter, so only Mrs. Granger noticed Hermione's stiffening. Interesting, she thought.

"They're fine," Hermione said briefly as she slipped into the car. She smiled at the muggle machine, caressing the seats fondly. "It's good to be home," she said.

Very, very, interesting, Mrs. Granger thought. Normally, Hermione was incredibly eager to tell her parents about all the goings-on at Hogwarts. It wasn't like her to be so silent.

All the conversation during the car ride home was atypical. Hermione was very loquacious about her studies, but barely mentioned her friends at all.

"Is everything all right between you and the boys?" Mrs. Granger asked her that night as soon as Mr. Granger was out of the house. He was going to play bridge with some of his friends, as he did every Thursday night.

Hermione froze. "What do you mean?" she asked, slightly on the defensive.

"Oh, nothing," Mrs. Granger assured her, knowing it would be pointless to press her unless she wanted to talk. "It's just that you haven't told us anything about them. Did you fight with them again?"

"Not exactly," Hermione said. "Well, yes, but not really. It's complicated." Mrs. Granger just waited. She knew that if Hermione wanted to talk about it, she would. Sure enough, she continued, after a moment, "Mum? Could…could you help me?"

"Of course," Mrs. Granger said, sitting on the couch and patting the seat next to her. "Sit down, and we'll get it all figured out."

Hermione smiled weakly and sat. "It's a kind of long story," she said.

"That's fine. We've got at least three hours until your father is home. I assume the problem isn't one you'd like to talk with him about?"

Hermione shuddered. "I should think not!" she said. "I love Dad, but this is a girl's only subject."

"What's going on?" Mrs. Granger asked. "Is Ron just being an prat again?"

"Yes," Hermione said frankly. "But it's not just his fault. Do you remember me telling you about Victor Krum?"

"Yes, of course." Victor had been Hermione's first romance. She had come home from her fourth year full of stories about him. It had been obvious to Mrs. Granger, however, that Victor himself was never really more than a friend. The stories were more about Hermione discovering dating and all the things that went with it.

"Well, that was when I started thinking about…you know." Hermione made wild gestures with her hands, trying to demonstrate what she was thinking.

"Romance?" her mother suggested.

"Yes," Hermione said. "I started thinking about all that, and…" There was a pause as she tried to formulate what she was going to say.

"What did you discover?"

"That I've somehow managed to tumble into love," Hermione admitted.

"With Ron," Mrs. Granger said.

"Y-yes," Hermione said. "How did you know?"

Mrs. Granger pondered the question. "I'm not really sure," she said at length. "It's something in the way you talk about him. When you talk about Harry, it's clear that you're very close to him, but as a brother. When you mention Ron, though…oh, I don't know how to explain it. It's nothing tangible, just an idea I had."

"Well, you must be clairvoyant, then, because I just discovered it myself this year. I think I've been in love with him a while – at least since fourth year. But I never guessed until now."

"Have you done anything about it?"

"Well…" Hermione looked at her mum and laughed. "I asked him to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party, then, once he started dating Lavender Brown, took Cormac McLaggan."

"Who's that?"

"Some bloke. He's a real prat, and Ron despises him. I don't fancy him much, either, actually, but it did the trick."

"Was Ron jealous?"

Hermione gave another shout of laughter. "I'll say. You should have seen his face when I mentioned it. But he hasn't done anything about it."

"Just give him time," Mrs. Granger advised. "He'll come around, if you don't give up on him."

"Boys are so clueless," Hermione complained.

Mrs. Granger laughed. "Give them a few years, and they'll come to their senses. Don't give up on them, though – Harry and Ron are very nice boys, and the last thing you want to do is lose them.

A year later, Hermione stood in the snow, listening to distant Christmas carols and her best friend's – no, her _brother's _sobs, and thought of her parents. She had been so incredibly lucky to have them, she realized. But now they were gone, safe in Australia. She had left the Weasleys behind, and Hogwarts and all the comfort it had brought her. Ron, too, was gone, vanished into the night. As she remembered the last time she had really had a heart-to-heart with her mother, Hermione could almost hear her saying "don't give up on him…the last thing you want to do is lose them."

_But he's gone! There's nothing I can do to bring him back!_

"Just give him time," Mrs. Granger had said.

"Ron," Hermione whispered softly to herself as Harry got to his feet. And, many miles away, in Shell Cottage, Ron heard her call, and swore to himself that he would return to her as soon as he could.

**A/N: In case people didn't figure it out, the main part of the story takes place over Christmas break in Hermione's sixth year, and the end is in Godric's Hallow in Deathly Hallows.**


	3. Ginny Weasley Potter

**A/N: I think this is actually my favorite one I've written so far…and yet it was the one where I had the hardest time getting started. Strange how that happens, isn't it?**

"Ginny, dear, would you set the table for me?" Mrs. Weasley asked her youngest child and only daughter.

Automatically, Ginny moved to get the large stack of plates needed to seat the entire Weasley family.

"Oh, and don't forget to set an extra place," Mrs. Weasley reminded her. "Harry is coming tonight."

Ginny's hands, which were usually very steady, as was necessary to play Chaser, slipped and she dropped the plates she was holding. Blushing furiously, she bent to pick up the pieces. When she straightened, her expression was tragic almost to the point of comedy.

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Weasley asked her. "Don't you want to see Harry?"

"No," Ginny said frankly.

Molly looked at her only daughter for a moment, then laid down her ladle and tore off her apron. "Leave the plates," she instructed Ginny, "and come with me."

Confused, Ginny followed her mum out of the kitchen and into the master bedroom. On the way, they passed Mr. Weasley.

"Mad-Eye will be here in a moment," he told his wife.

She nodded bravely, doing her best to hide the tears that had sprung to her eyes. "We'll come out and see you off. What time should we expect you back?"

"Here," Arthur said, handing her a piece of parchment. "This has all the departure times of the portkeys."

"Thank you," she told him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Be careful," she whispered.

"We will be," he said.

After a long moment, they pulled apart. Mr. Weasley embraced his daughter, and went to round up the rest of the people going with him to get Harry.

"How did you know?" Ginny asked Mrs. Weasley as they went into the bedroom. "That Dad was the one, I mean?"

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Well, for the first five years we were at Hogwarts, I don't think we exchanged two words. Then one of my best friends – Dorcas Meadows, she died years ago, you don't know her – she started dating one of Arthur's friends, Benjy Fenwick. He died during the first war, too, only a few weeks after Dorcas did. They were engaged, you see."

"That's horrible," Ginny said.

Molly looked at her sympathetically. "That was what life was like then."

"And what it's turning into now," Ginny said softly.

There was a moment of depressed silence, then Mrs. Weasley retuned to the matter at hand. "Anyhow, Benjy and Dorcas saw me and Arthur and decided we were meant for each other. They convinced Arthur to take me to a party our fifth year, and we never looked back."

"You had it easy," Ginny said, a hint of jealously in her voice. "You didn't have to find Dad – you had a matchmaker."

Molly laughed. "I wouldn't say that, exactly," she said. "I had fancied Arthur since third year, when he picked up my quill for me when I dropped it in Transfiguration. He never had a clue, though, until Dorcas and Benjy interfered."

Ginny sighed. "Are all boys clueless about girls?"

Molly laughed. "Not all, dear, just most. And they all learn eventually."

"And then they go all noble and change their minds," Ginny said gloomily.

"What happened between you and Harry at the end of last year?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking closely at her daughter. She had known, of course, that something had happened, for whenever Harry's name came up, Ginny had shown a great tendency to change the subject. She had asked Ron, once, and just gotten a scowl and a, "You noticed, too? That git…maybe it's for the best, but it's messing with Ginny."

For a moment, Ginny hesitated, and Mrs. Weasley wondered if she had made a mistake. Maybe she was prying; maybe Ginny would rather talk things over with Hermione. But then Ginny said, almost desperately, "He broke up with me."

"For some stupid noble reason?" Mrs. Weasley guessed. She knew Harry almost as well as she knew her own sons, and had seen the way he had looked at Ginny over the last Christmas. He loved her; there was no doubt of that in Molly's mind. And, frankly, the only thing that could make her happier would be Voldemort's downfall.

"Of course," Ginny said bitterly. "He thinks that Voldemort will use me, that he'll come after me just because I'm dating Harry."

"Oh, my dear," Mrs. Weasley said, slipping an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "You know he just wants to protect you."

"I don't need protection!" Ginny cried, leaping up and starting to pace. "I can take care of myself. He's the one who needs to be protected. I don't even know if he's going to get here alive tonight, much less live the year out. And he and Ron and Hermione are all going off on this mission, and I won't see any of them, and – I'm scared, Mum."

Mrs. Weasley got up and pulled her daughter into her arms. She knew better than to say some pointless thing like, "It will be okay," because it _wasn't_ going to be okay. Whatever happened next, there was going to be bad news, heartbreaking news. But, "If you both survive," she said instead, "and there's a good chance that will happen – you know that, right? You're a strong young woman, Ginny, and one of the best witches I've seen in a long time. And Harry's strong, too. He's had to endure more than any boy his age should, and he's still alive and well. He has Ron and Hermione to protect him, and they have him to protect them. And if the two of you survive, and Voldemort dies, then, you know Harry will come back to you. He loves you, Ginny, with all of his heart. He loves you almost as much as Dad and I do."

Ginny gave a watery laugh. "And that's saying something."

Molly smiled at her daughter. "He's just figuring things out, dear. He'll come back to you in the end, though."

Ginny smiled, too, and held her mother tight. "I love you, Mum."

"I love you, dear."

**A/N: Again, in case the setting wasn't clear, this takes place at the very beginning of Deathly Hallows, at the Burrow before Bill, Fleur, Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, the twins, Mad-Eye, Tonks, Lupin, and Mundungus (I think that's everyone) leave to go pick up Harry from the Dursleys' house for the last time. **


	4. Sorry!

**A/N: I am so, so sorry that I'm taking so long to update this story! I lost my inspiration and got sidetracked by other stories. I will get back to this, I swear, but I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo in August as well as moving across the country. So please be patient, and I'll get back to this story as soon as I can. Thank you all so much to everyone who has read, commented, followed, or favorited this story. You're all amazing!**

**P.S. Sorry to anyone who is following any of my other stories or me – you're going to see a lot of these.**


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